If They Only Knew
by Zarius
Summary: A conversation with Penfold about numbers brings an absent minded DM back to Dawn to ask her an urgent question (tag for "Dark Dawn")


**DANGER MOUSE**

**IF THEY ONLY KNEW**

**WRITTEN BY ZARIUS**

**(Contains spoilers for "Dark Dawn")**

**Alternative Soundtrack: "If You Only Knew" by Shinedown**

* * *

"Chief, where are my socks?" Penfold asked as he littered his bedroom with laundry

"Cabinet Ten Penfold" Danger Mouse yelled to him as he relaxed on the couch in the main living room, watching a Mouseflix documentary.

"I do wish you wouldn't label them with numbers chief, try something alphabetical next time" Penfold suggested as he succeeded in finding a suitable pair.

"Some day I'm going to have to teach you the value of numbers, they keep score on how much time you spend at work and indeed how much money you spend courtesy of the big cheques you get after a hard day saving the world. They also remind you what days to remember"

"Oh you mean the days you keep forgetting about? Like my birthday?"

"Well, we can't all be too precise; sometimes there are just too many dates to remember"

"Sounds to me like you'd rather forget about some numbers because they bring about uncomfortable emotions"

"I don't know what you mean Penfold"

Penfold emerged from the bedroom and walked over to the coffee machine to select a latte.

"Well, think about it, you told me you worry about saving your best friend virtually every week, imagine what would happen if you had to think about losing me on my birthday? That would have killed you if the worst had occurred on that day"

"Good point friend, so that makes it perfectly OK to put that out of my mind"

"I wouldn't go that far chief" Penfold said, frowning slightly.

"So any other numbers you think I wilfully neglect because they give me emotional roadblocks?" said DM.

"Just one other thing, and I think the pair of you are wilfully neglecting it because you don't want to go further...I think you know what I mean"

"The pair of us?"

"You and that prickly princess" said Penfold.

"Dawn? Dawn Crumhorn?" DM replied, aghast.

"Wow, you were quick to catch on there" said Penfold.

"Bu-but what do we have in common regarding numbers?" DM said

"Age is but a number" Penfold said cryptically.

Suddenly, it hit DM.

He smacked his forehead at the realisation; he couldn't believe he hadn't considered it sooner.

His absent-mindedness was indeed deliberate; he had let that incident with a rebellious Mr. Snuggles and a slightly older, moodier teenage Dawn slip completely from his mind. That day provided all the clarity he needed, and he chose to block it.

And Penfold was right, Dawn had too.

"Right, I'm going to sort this out" he said, making a beeline for the hanger where the Mark IV was stored and dashing off in it towards Dawn's abode, crashing into the right wall and startling her and Mr. Snuggles just as he pressing an iron down on some of her dresses.

"Mouse? What are you doing here; can't you see we're in the middle of our laundry?"

"Is it laundry day everywhere or something?"

"As a matter of fact, it is" Mr. Snuggles said, pointing at the calendar, with a big red patch of red ink encircling the words "LAUNDRY DAY"

"How could I have put this date out of my mind too? I haven't washed this suit in a fortnight" DM said, sniffing his armpits for sign of any linger bodily odours, which grossed Dawn out further.

"You're probably too busy being a goodie-goodie to notice the things that are best for you" said Dawn, blowing a raspberry at him.

"State your business Mouse" Mr. Snuggles said, cracking his knuckles ready for a fight.

"If I could request a little privacy between me and Dawn if that's OK" DM said, giving Dawn a glance that conveyed to her this was a serious subject

"He did give us space that day you and I made up Dawn, we owe this one to him" Snuggles said

Dawn nodded, giving Snuggles permission to leave.

As he did so, Pink got off her throne and approached DM, who didn't even hesitate in asking the question that'd been on his mind since he decided to no longer keep it out.

"Just precisely how old are you? For real?" he said.

"You're only as old as you feel" said Dawn.

"That tiara of yours, it's some kind of age debooter isn't it?"

"I'll give _you_ the boot if you don't cut to the chase Mouse" Dawn replied.

"Sorry, what I'm going to say next is going to come across as a little bit awkward; I'd rather not discuss this with your younger self. I know, I know, it didn't seem to matter when we shared that moment under the northern lights, but for the sake of my conscience and reputation as a wholesome children's icon and merchandise machine, I need you to act a little more like your actual age"

Dawn removed her tiara and her body underwent a startling transformation, her hair grew longer, becoming looser and less poodle-like, it began resembling the coat of a raven, her skin grew greyer, her eloquent princess dress morphed into a strikingly velvet black and purple dress

"Much better" said Danger Mouse.

"M.I.Q Danger Shut-Your-Mousetrap; as in 'make it quick', this is like, _so_ not where I want to be"

"I want you to think back to the last time I saw you like this, and just ask me one thing...when did it start for you? I know when it started for me, at the North Pole, but when did it start for you?"

"Ugh, do we have to talk about feelings? You're so not my psychiatrist. Did I ever tell you about what happened to my psychiatrist? All twelve of them? I really only had the one, but when he made me talk about my, (shudder), feelings, I split him into twelve tiny versions of himself and stomped on all of them"

"Dawn, you're still not quite acting your age"

"No teenager knows what age they're supposed to be Mouse, you're a grown up so you won't understand"

"Dawn, teenagers don't necessarily stop being teenagers when they turn nineteen, some stay this way well into their mid twenties. Some people choose to repress their maturity _forever_"

"So? Maybe they think maturing is a crock, it forces you to set aside childish things and makes you face a harsher world with little to no safety net. It's especially true for me in my case because you sent my dad into outer space"

Dawn's words rattled Danger Mouse, but that wasn't the only thing to do so, as she whipped her hair at him, unleashing a blast of dark energy that pinned him against the walls of the house.

As Dawn poured the energy on, DM struggled to put his point across without succumbing to the devastating pain coursing through his body.

"Dawn, I know losing your father still hurts, I know the world won't always be fair to you, you can't replace who you love, but you can add to what you felt, by accepting more people into your heart. Give yourself that chance"

Dawn considered this for a moment, but only just a moment. She shut off her energy spike and left Danger Mouse reduced to a roasted heap on the floor.

She didn't give Danger Mouse a straight answer to his last request, she didn't know yet if she was willing to take that next step. The pair of them may go to their graves never knowing.

She did, however, chose to finally answer his second question.

"You want to know where it started for me? Look upon me as I am now Mouse, _this _is the very form, _the only form_, where it could have started. When you gave that speech to me and Snuggles proclaiming that if you loved something so much, that you should set it free. Those words moved me only slightly, but then I saw your silly sidekick and his own rebellious bear make peace with each other, effectively putting your words into practice, I realised I didn't need to let my past go in order to shape my future"

"So what you're saying is its _Penfold_'s fault you feel this way about me?" DM joked as he rose to his feet, looking significantly singed.

"We always blame other people for the scars we carry" said Dawn.

"I'm a scar to you?" said DM.

"You certainly look like it right now, poor thing" she said with a smirk, noting DM's singed appearance.

"All scars heal" remarked DM.

Dawn clicked her fingers and a rocking pop soundtrack began playing over her abode's loud speakers. "_Betcha Never_" by Cherie.

"Ask" she said.

DM knew instinctively what to say next.

"May I have this dance Dawn?"

Dawn smiled; she scooped up her tiara, placed it gently on the throne and took DM's hand.

As the two engaged in a passionate and electrifying salsa, their thoughts turned to the past once more, back to what both would have perceived at the time as a moment of crisis, but in the context of the present, they could not help but think of the moment differently.

Teetering beside the very edge of Big Ben, DM's felt the loosening grip of Mr. Snuggles, Dawn clutching to his arms in a state of emotional duress. It had all the makings of a storybook cliff-hanger.

And it's on such a cliff-hanger that we leave them be.

For perhaps it was truly _then_ that both realised that's when it started.

If only they knew for certain.

If they only knew.


End file.
